exhaust of a pickup truck to make it look like he's spouting hot air. that's creative. a couple of businessmen did that during a debate on climate change. "happening now" starts with jon and jane. see you tomorrow. jon: we beginning with this fox news alert, a frightening scene in north st. louis where a gunman armed with an assault rifle walked into a power company, at least three have been shot, the gunman belonged to be a long-time employee, and still is on the loose. harris falkner. >> what we're finding out is the name of that person and a few details about time hend ren, 51 years old, we have his license plate null and this is important because all of the focus is on picking up this suspect, timothy hend ren, he's driving, according to st. louis police, a

pewter-colored nisan truck with the license plate, okk 696. they looked if him -- for him inside this plant, abb, for more than 90 minutes after the shooting. we have confirmed that at least three people have been shot and according to the st. louis staff, one is presumed dead. we have not confirmed that. but we are still working on details. right now the full focus on timothy hendron. when i talked to cops this morning, they were looking for this vehicle. i got off the phone a short while ago with his good friend and long-time coworker who has talked with the st. louis dispatch. he had no further comment, but this is what the dispatch is reporting that this good friend of the suspect told him. it's ronald bartram, i'm very upset, he's a good friend of mine, i'm very concerned, he's a man, that's a neighbor of timothy

hendron. i did speak with him, he said i have no further comment, but the abb plant in north st. louis, the place of a workplace shooting, it's been about 2 1/2, almost three hours ago that police responded to this. we have reports that employees were running from the gunfire, from this person who walked into the plant and went to the rooftop, then you see swat deals on the rooftop, you see pictures of it now, a man walked into this abb plant with what we're told at least a rifle, perhaps another weapon, his name is timothy hendron, on the loose now, police looking for him. jon: stay with us on that. jane: to the intelligence failures that led to that near disaster in the skies in detroit on christmas day. right now we're waiting for the white house to release a critical report that affects our safety in this country. it should answer the question how was a young nigeria man allowed to board that -- nigerian plane

allowed to board a plane. abdullah mutallab will be arraigned tomorrow. just a few hours from now we expect president obama to talk about exactly what went wrong. the president has acknowledged there were red flags, including a warning from the suspect's own father. white house national security adviser jim jones says americans will feel a, quote, certain shock when they read this report today, former pennsylvania governor tom ridge was the first person to run the department of lomaland security when it was created in the wake of 9/11. he's with us now. good morning, governor. >> nice to be with you this morning. jane: what do you expect this certain shock to snb. >> first of all, i don't think americans are waiting to hear the report to be shocked. i think they're somewhat dismayed by the fact that the department of a state didn't pull this individual's visa, that somebody didn't exercise some judgment and pick up the phone and put him immediately either on the watch list or the no fly

list. so this is a series of shocks. and i suspect, and giving credit where credit is due, i hope they're transparent to alert us to what the problem was and prescriptive in 2er78s of -- in materials of what they're going to do it make sure it doesn't happen again. jane: the good news is the system needs tweaked, it doesn't need a major overhaul at this point, would you agree? >> the system probably does need tweaked but what really needs tweaked in my judgment is the mindset or the attitude that has to this date, in spite of eight years after 9/11, the notion that they're not so willing to share this information with each other and analyze it. i think clearly, one of the best and most important things a president can do is to set the tone, a different tone. if that plane would have gone down, somebody would have said in court in the language early in the administration it was a man-made incident. it was a terrorist attack. president president used the

language this was an isolated extremist. what americans need to understand and what the president would inculcate into his team is it's not isolated, it is an ongoing effort within al-qaeda and other extremist organizations to recruit individuals to do us harm. so let's change the language. it's a war against extremists. there's nothing isolated about it. we're going to be at this for a couple of generations, i'm afraid. jane: i read that you said that a few days ago and i was going to bring it up because frankly, i think people probably find it disheartening, you said this is going to go on a generation or two and we've lost our sense of urgency. with all due respect, i feel like we've been talking about these same issues for eight years now, we hear of a clash of cultures, we've lost a sense of urgency, a community comaitions -- a communications breakdown. will this say that? >> you do say it with great respect and you should also say it with a great deal of concern, because the

language we used right after 9/11 was we couldn't connect the dots, and i guess individuals working for this president and future presidents, one of the worst things that could happen would be a repeat of 9/11, where a commercial aircraft is potentially involved in a terrorist incident, and you would think that would be one of the highest priorities and when you see conduct that is out of the norm, out of the usual, a father comes in and talks about his son, yank the visa, put him on the watch list. let's go back to major hasan. you've got a couple of reports that an active duty soldier is e-mailing a known radical cleric. i don't think anybody in the law enforcement community picked up the phone to say to the defense intelligence agency or department of army you'd better check this individual out. it's not incriminate, it's just using good judgment, good common sense. we have to get back to september 12th, 2001 mentality and act when you see these anomalies. you have to tweak the system

that when something is out of the norm you have to take action immediately. jane: i guess the intelligence community is an easy target in all of this, so many unnamed people, so easy to go after. how difficult it is, give us a perspective, to connect the dots. it's easy for us to sit here and say why didn't they, but when you're in the moment, how hard is it. >> i think that's a very fair statement, probably one of the more responsible statements i've heard over the past weeks after this incident that unfortunately didn't occur, but you have in both of these cases i think some extraordinary information, such unusual information, that running either the major hasan piece or this detroit terrorist piece through the normal channels was not an exercise in very good judgment. so i'm saying let's have a mindset that worries about these things, use the process as it is normally used. but when you see these things occurring, these anomaly, let's not run it through the normal system, because these individuals

aren't thinking and acting rationally and we have to be prepared to act quickly. jane: one last question i wanted to ask you before we let you go, janet napolitano, who currently holds the job you had as departmentor of homeland security, she has taken a lot of heat for the comment she said afterwards that the system worked, she said they were taken out context. is she being treated fairly? >> i'm sure she regrets the statement, and let me say something, and thank you for the question for your audience. secretary of homeland security, nor the department, can act on anything until they get the information. they don't generate intelligence, they have to act on intelligence. the department of homeland security could not have revoked the visa, the department of homeland security could not have put his name on the national counterterrorism center, the department of homeland security couldn't have done anything with major hasan, so while there is obviously criticism pointed in the department's direction and

at the secretary i think by in large it is misplaced. it was a statement that a lot of people have difficulty with and i'm sure regrets -- i'm sure she regrets but the department of homeland security consumes information and acts ton when it receives but there's a vacuum. if there's no information, it's pretty difficult to answer. jane: toj ridge is former head of that department and former governor of pennsylvania. thank you for joining us. >> thank you jane. jane: keep it here on fox news, we'll have complete coverage of the president's comments on this potential attack on christmas day, the one that was not fortunately, as the governor talked about there, allowed to go forth. we expect the time has changed that the president is going to be talking to reporters, at 3:00 eastern, so a little under four hours from now. as soon as we get details on this report to be released by the white house, you know we will bring them straight to you. jon: as we await for the president's report on that attempted attack, many questions remain about the safety of airline travel right now. the responsible government agency, the tsa, has been without a chief for nearly

this year, arrol suers is president obama's pick to head the tsa but that appointment remains blocked by senate republicans who have reservations about elements of his background. brian wilson is live at dulles international airport in virginia. boil it down for us, why is there no head of the tsa? >> in september the obama administration put forward the name of arrol suers. arrol suers is a former fbi agent, he's a guy who works at a very high security position, the top position at lax airport, he was thought by the obama administration to be the man who lead the tsa forward, however, this is a position that requires, as you said, senate confirmation, and there has been what is known as a senatorial hold put on this nomination, jon. jon: brian wilson, thank you. jane: in the meantime, we want to get to st. louis, missouri, to north st. louis, where we've been watching this workplace

shooting this morning. we are just getting word unfortunately the fire department there in st. louis is telling us that one person has been confirmed dead, four others hurt in this shooting. as far as we know, it looks like a veteran employee of a company there in north st. louis, i think we have live pictures to show you, of abb, which is the power company there, a former employee came very early this morning, walking through the parking lot, with at least one gun, maybe a rifle. he may have also been armed with a handgun as well. harris, what are you snrerng. >> our fox affiliate in st. louis as i said at the top of the show, along with the st. louis dispatch were reporting, unconfirmed at that point, that one was presumed dead among those injured so now we're hearing from the fire sergeant via the associated press that that is the case. you mentioned possibly a long-time employee. here's what we've been able to learn through a law firm that apparently was affiliated with timothy hendron, the suspect they're looking forks 51-year-old

assembly line worker at that plant, and by the way, the plant makes electrical transformers, timothy hendron, apparently, according to the davis polk law firm was part of a class action lawsuit that sued this plant for pension losses a couple of years ago, back in 2006. so we are learning more details. i mentioned earlier we have been in contact. he was on the phone with one of his long-time neighbors and friends who didn't want to go on to say anything more than what he told the st. louis dispatch, and that was that he's known this guy a long time and he was a good man, wanted people to reserve judgment based on what he knew about this man, but in the meantime the only thing that matters -- judgment that matters is that of the st. louis police officers and the s.w.a.t. team looking for 51-year-old timothy hendron, he is possibly in a pewter-colored nissan, and you're seeing live pictures as they traffic the search, telegraph the search through

our fox affiliate helicopter. i'll stay on this. you see the license plate there at the bottom. people may be watching. if you can help in this man hunt, pick up the phone and call 911. jane: again, the breaking news, the fire department in st. louis saying one confirmed dead, four others hurt in the shooting. we'll be right back.

jane: again we want to look at the live pictures courtesy of st. louis fox ktbi, we'll tell you what the chopper is looking for, we're told we're looking for the suspect from the workplace shooting. as you probably know if you follow this, the first place to look is the homes of relatives. they're looking for a 51-year-old that went to his workplace, abb power, and opened fire. the fire department there is telling us at least one person is dead, four others hurt. so as soon as we get confirmation that they have found his home or something else of interest, we will take you back there live.

jon: in washington, house speaker nancy pelosi says democrats on both sides of capitol hill are close to a final deal on health care reform. house leaders are about to lay out their strategy for merging the house and senate bills in a closed-door meeting with the entire democratic caucus. james rosen is live in washington. this is going to be a private meeting, james. so what about the president's campaign promises of transparency here? >> well, it is an issue in this town right now, jon. candidate obama, in 2008, vowed repeatedly to televise the negotiations on c-span and feed them over the internet. asked about the promises on tuesday and about c-span's request this week seeking just that kind of access, white house press secretary robert gibbs said he hasn't seen c-span's request and the number one priority is getting the differences in the house and senate bills worked out. he also said president obama does not regret making those promises. on wednesday, yesterday,

gibbs essentially refused to entertain questions on the matter in the briefing. today, the pittsburgh tribune review has published an interview with joe suspect, democrat from pennsylvania and the seat held by aleb spkter in which suspect blasts leaders on this issue, quote, they, meaning democratic leaders, said it would be transparent. why isn't it. at times, ses tack continued, i find the democratic caucus is a real disappointment, we are transparent not just to the public but at times to the party. nancy pelosi will have an opportunity to respond between ses tack and she participate in that conference call, less than two hours from now. jon: what's the democratic response to the charge that this has not been an open process? >> for one thing, they cite the complexity of the reform they're tackling. health care reform is 1/6 of the economy and anything as large -- as large a part of

the gdp is important enough that they are loathe to commit to making, and one subcommittee told fox news this is the most transparent legislative process he's ever seen. >> there are more hearings, there has been more debate on the house floor, more opportunity for the public to be heard, the bill has always been on the internet, the draft forks people to read. i think we're talking about when you get to the final stage, where there has to be give and take between the house and senate, it's inevitable there has to be private conversations and i think that's what you're seeing now. >> frank pallone, democrat of new jersey. the house and senate are trying to merge the reform into one bill, despite differences over key items and staged votes on the final compromise in time for president obama to sign it into law before the state of the union address later this month, jon. jon: we'll keep watching it. james rosen in washington, thanks. jane: we're also going to

keep watching what's happening in st. louis at that shooting and to florida where the big freeze is hitting a lot of places that hardly ever see weather this cold. it's causing a whole lot of problems. phil keither is just outside of tampa. phil? >> i am in strawberry fields forever. this is the heart of the united states' strawberry country, in sidney, florida and so far, so good on the $250 million a year strawberry crop, but the berry farmers and citrus farmers know this cold snap is far from over. details coming up.

jon: taking you back to st. louis, where that shooting has taken place, at a plant that manufactures power transformers, the company is abb, a swiss-based company. on the phone with us now,

thomas smith, a spokesperson for abb in zurich. mr. smith, thank you for joining us. there is a report that the suspected gunman in this case, timothy hendron is a former employee of the company? do you know, had he been fired? >> good morning. at this point, we really don't have that information available, or it's been a very sad day for abb and we are currently working very hard to establish the information, together with the authorities in st. louis, and we have teams on both sides of the atlantic, in zurich here in switzerland and in the states. that's the current situation for us. jon: it's obviously a huge facility there in st. louis. how many people work there? >> we have about 270 employees working in st. louis for abb, and they're working in different shifts, so we assume that at the

time of the shooting, there was potentially less employees working at the site. jon: and have authorities filled you in? i realize you're across the atlantic but have authorities filled you in on more about the dead and wounded here? >> we are currently in close contact with the authorities, but unfortunately, at this time, i cannot confirm any information about fatalities or employees that have been wounded. but of course, it's a very difficult situation. we are shocked by the events and currently, our thoughts are, of course, with our colleagues and their family necessary st. louis. jon: thomas smith is a spokesman for abb in vurric. jane: the st. louis fire department has confirmed that one person has been killed and four others hurt, here are the conditions according to the fire

department, two are hospitalized in critical condition, one in serious, the other, we're told, has injuries that are described as minor. harris, as authorities are watching the live pictures and hunting for the shooter. what is the thought at this point, that he is still inside the snrant. >> that's what the associated press is reporting. what i can tell you is that just moments ago, the chopper had flown away and they were reportedly looking for this person's house. we watched that live as they kind of went neighborhood to neighborhood, looking for his house. now they've gone back over to that company where he worked, abb power plant, or transformer company, and the central location now of the chopper is right over that lot past the vehicle. these are live pictures from ktvi, our fox affiliate there. what we do know about the gunman, or the suspect, i should say, he apparently, according to a company supervisor, was a disguntelled worker who may have recently lost his job, a long-time employee. if it is possible he's still inside that building, it's a very large plant, this is

somebody who would certainly know all about where all the nooks and crannies are inside that building. the focus now, to answer your question, jane, is on the following -- building, but we've not confirmed that because they're still securing the scene, via protocol, or if he's actually in there. jane: the weather is certainly not helping things today, they're in the midst of a pretty significant storm. we'll get an update on that as well and back to harris. jon: a lot of the parts of the country seeing cold and snowy weather now. florida is one of those states that's freezing. the bitter cold has a very tight grip on the south and that is bad news for the farmers, their fruit and vegetable crops and eventually us consumers. phil keating is live at branden farms at sidney, florida, near tampa. any widespread damage to the berries and fruit they grow, phil? >> not yet, jon, but they know this is far from over, the second wave of this arctic push deep into the

deep south is still coming over the weekend but so far they have been taking a lot of precious care of all of these berries. this is 20 acres, you can see the strawberries looking really good, ripe and red still, i'm watching the bumble bees flutter about. this is the warmest time of day, warmest all week in this area but it's been challenging work. they've been taking care not only of the berryies, which is a quarter of a million dollar industry, but the citrus industry as a whole is estimated to be nine or $10 billion, so it has been a long week of making sure the plants don't die. but sporadic problems, sporadic damage, is all that's being reported at this point. jon: they're not getting sleep because they have to do most of their work at night? >> exactly. you see nobody on the field now. that's because all of the work has been done in the nighttime hours, and then they are sleeping in the daytime. they are going around, spraying all of the roots of the citrus trees, as well as

all of the leaves and blooms of all of the berry plants, and that provides an insulation layer so that when the temperature drops lower than 32, and it's been going down to about 28 every morning for the past week, that's where you get the damage. but the ice actually protects them and keeps them from getting that frost bite, which could be very damaging for a harvest in the future. jon: phil keither in the middle of the florida area, thanks phil. jane: our crew is in st. louis, and harris is at the desk, continuing to work the story out of st. louis a. workplace shooting, a man with an assault rifle, we're told, walked into a power company where he worked. there are some reports he may have been just recently fired there, may have been disguntelled and opened fire. we're told one person has been killed, four others hurt, two in critical condition. we'll bring you more on the other side of the break. also a plan to make the irs even more powerful, why the tax man may soon be involved in your health care.

jane: we continue to watch what's happening in north snriewrks a workplace shooting there. authorities are still looking for the gunman. harris, i know you've got live picture toss show us. what's happening? >> this is the thing. you see some urgency in just a few moments ago, and what we're looking at is brand new video that's coming in because our chopper has flown away again and you can see from some of the pictures, it looked as if they were bringing some

people out and shadowing them with vehicles to protect them from what could be possible gunfire. i mean, that's what you see on these scenes. and so as you watch, you begin to ask the question do they in fact believe there is somebody still in this plant. you'll see how that one squad car is backing up, you see the cover they're taking, those are the scenes we saw play out moments ago. these pictures are from a bit earlier but we're still seeing that type of behavior pick up in the last few minutes which can be an indication that there is somebody they're still trying to apprehend inside that building. then you saw the very quick steps and actual running of some of these cops toward the building. again, these pictures are a little bit older from moments ago. their steps were faster than the guys on the screen, so you saw some urgency which again may lead us to the indication that there's somebody armed inside that building. i'm still trying to confirm that, we're working in the newsroom, the national desk and i know they are at our fox affiliate as well. jane, back to you.

jane: harris, thanks. jon: as if the internal revenue service isn't powerful enough, now there is a plan to expand the reach of the tax man, and the agency could soon play a role in health care reform. molly hennenberg is following that story, live from our washington bureau. the irs in charge of whatever congress passes out of this health care reform, molly? >> parts of it, jon. they'll be affecting employers, medical device companies, collecting those fees, they'll be determining who should receive taxpayer dollars to help buy health insurance and paying out those subsidies, a whole host of new powers and responsibilities for the irs most obvious to all tax paying americans right away will be that congress' bill requires almost everyone to have health insurance and you'll have to prove it to uncle sam via your tax return, and if you don't have health insurance, you'll pay the penalty to the irs. anywhere from $95, or

5 percent of your in corks to $750, or 2.5% of your income. jon: i'm sure there are critics that don't like the idea of handing over that kind of power to the irs. >> right, an irs watchdog group says the irs doesn't do its current job efficiently enough to take on such vast new powers and that it gives the government too much authority over your health care an your money. take a listen. >> there's not only a question of agency competence involved here, there's a question of sweeping powers. one of the reasons why the irs was restructured and reformed back in the 1990s was because it was abusing its broad discretionary power. we're going right back to that big, bad era by giving the irs a whole new range of powers over how we pay for our health care. >> there's already so much fraud and waste in how the irs manages a separate program instituted by crk

the earned income tax credit for low income americans, and he says it may not get better with the new powers. jon: molly hennenberg, thank you. jane: north dakota senator byron dorgan's decision to retire could reshape the senate, they're hoping this could tip power. alysha is in dizmark, north dakota. talk to us about republicans seizing this opportunity to potentially impact the balance of power. >> well, jane, you know republicans as well as democrats were just as surprised by the announcement of this retirement, but yes, they are seizing this opportunity for this 2010 race. however i can also tell you they're also quite confident heading into 2010, because although he has not announced, there's been much talk of the current governor, republican john hoban, running for the senate seat.

let me tell you about governor hoban. in the last two elections he came in with over 70 percent of the vote and right now his approval rating is at about 83 percent, and in part, that is because this is one of only a handful of states in the entire nation that is in the black. right now, republicans are confident that there will be no other republicans to enter the field. jane? jane: what are democrats saying they're going to do? >> democrats right now say the dust is still settling and they're still celebrating the career of the retiring senator. they say they do have a lot of talent out there, they have spread a wide net, however they're not naming one in particular. there is one name that's surfaced, heidi heikamp, attorney general of the state, however, she has lost in the past gubernatorial race and she has not confirmed -- confirmed whether or not she's running and one analyst i talked to said look, when you're casting a wide net, that means you have no true stars coming to the front. jane: alysha, thank you.

jon: people are back out shopping this holiday season. some of the biggest retailers say they saw signs of economic life during the christmas season, some didn't even have to resort to the drastic cost cutting seas. jenna lee, does that mean consumer confidence is rebounding here? >> unfortunately, not necessarily, jon. i want to weave in the economic data on the job market. fewer americans are filing for the first time for unemployment but more americans are moving to emergency or extended benefits. in fact we have more americans collecting some sort of federal assistance because they're unemployed than ever before, 10.4 million americans are collecting benefits. so the job situation is still showing us it's very tough to reenter the work force if you lost your job and more americans on the verge, more of us wondering if we're going to lose assistance and if we lose any sort of assistance that means we're going to pull back on shopping more severely than in the past.

if we look at retail sales for december, we are seeing better than expected results, up 2.9% for the entire sector. that's better than economists were expecting. and some stores like macy's are actually more optimistic about the months and years ahead. but we have to remember, jon, the bar was set very low for this winter season and retailers have adjusted, as you pointed out, their inventory levels and their sales in order to maximize the most for the shoppers that were coming in. if we look ahead, though, there is some concern, jon, i was looking back in order to look ahead on how we closed out the last decade and in the last decade, in december of 1999, retail sales were up nearly 10 percent. a different economy to be sure, but that just shows you the 2.9% historically is not a big boost. it is more difficult to find a job these days and also it's more difficult to make those sales. so it looks like we're reestablishing a new normal for this economy in 2010, jon. jon all right jenna lee, we'll check in with you in a bit. thank you. jane: we are watching what's

happening out of north st. louis, a workplace shooting that's been going on for hours now. authorities are telling us on employee, possibly an employee who was just fired, walked into that parking lot this morning of abb power and opened fire about 6:30 in the morning. five people have been shot, the fire department is saying at least one person is dead, four others hurt. more details after the break.

jane: authorities still looking for a gunman in north st. louis today that

opened fire on other workers at a power plant where he worked. harris has more on what the police have just told reporters. >> this is a very sad situation, this news conference wrapping up. five people we can confirm via the fire department have been shot, one is in critical condition, one we know is deceased, one was a minor injury and that leaves a couple that we don't know their conditions. we now know that police are going through this electrical transformer factory, room by room. that would indicate they still believe the suspect may be in the building. what they've done is set up a 2--mile perimeter, and they believe, what's just come out of the news conference, they believe he's within that 2-mile perimeter some place, so they're searching this plant campus for the gunman and any other workers who may be wounded. there was one report of a man inside of a maintenance area, and so there may be people hiding out, so they're not just looking for the gunman at this point, but also looking to see if there's anybody else they

can help. i had mentioned to you before that we saw police, it looked like, bringing out another person and taking the cover of a squad vehicle to get that person to the emergency care vehicle that's in the center right of your screen there, and then the number of wounded changed. within seconds later we knew there were five people who had been shot. so that's what they're trying to do now, try to figure out if there's anybody else hurt. now, away from the scene is the home of the suspect, timothy hend ron, 51-year-old timothy hendron from an area called webster's grove, an inner city suburb of north st. louis, webster's grove. so we do know they've looked at that as a possibility as well but they are now focus in on this campus and a 2-mile radius and you're looking at video from when they were preliminary at his home. byby the way, interstate 70 in the st. louis area has been shut down in both directions from king's highway to

goodfellow. and so that is the very latest right now. the focus now is on the abb -- abb power plant and the simple area. i say that because people may be watching from that area. if you can help, if you see this man, there's also a description of his car. just because it's a 2-mile radius may not mean he might not be in a vehicle. it's a pewter-colored nissan they have all the bases covered as they conduct this hunt. jon: as that search goes on in the st. louis area, not too far away the hunt is on for three prisoners in east st. louis, authorities caution the men are armed and dangerous and no one should approach them. the defendants were held at the try-county detention center on charges of drug and weapons possession, u.s. marshals say catches these

guys is a top priority. for more on the man hunt, don slaznik joins us live. marshal, how did they get out? >> well, they broke out. we're investigating that now and that's a prosecutable offense so they will be prosecuted for that, so the actual specifics of how they managed to get out of the jail is being investigated and we're going to hold those particulars for right now. jon: and there is some question as to even when they got out and how long they've been on the run, right? >> well, we know for a fact they didn't show up for breakfast yesterday morning, so we're sure about that. we haven't pinned down a time in the middle of the night, so we don't know how much of a time delay we had when we began the search. and that always heampers us a little bit, when you're trying to track somebody like this. jon: we can see in the corner of the picture that's on the screen right now

thomas glabb is wearing the orange prison jumpsuit. they were all wearing those when they broke out but you believe they ditched those, right? >> yes, those have been recovered, and that's why we actually believe that they had some assistance somehow, because of the distance that those were found away from the jail itself. jon: so they must have transportation, it seems. >> that's what we're thinking, yes. jon: at this point, they could be just about anywhere. >> well, we're basing our hunt right now on the fact that the three individuals, and this is going to seem like a large area, but glabb himself is from the southern illinois area. you know, this institution is way down in the sorp tip of illinois. however, rodney brown has ties to the alton, illinois area, which is up by st. louis, close to where we're at, and then the other individual, robles, has ties to the chicago area and the northern indiana area. so as you can see, we're

trying to cover a lot of ground right now. jon: they are considered armed and dangerous. i know you're telling people in a situation like this, if you should happen to see these guys or one is of them, don't approach them, do anything, just pick up the phone and dial 911. >> certainly, keep it simple, dial 911, explain you've seen somebody that you think might be one of these suspects and let the police do their job. the illinois state police has been great, they're working the whole state with us, our agents and deputies up in chicago area are working, alton police department. we've got quite a bit of help on this. we'll find our people. it's just a matter of time. jon: this detention center they were staying in, it's my understanding it's county-owned but staffed by contract workers. does it mean it's one of these private prisons? >> yes. it's staffed by a private company. it's also -- it services three counties, actually, in the southern tip of illinois. jon: does this suggest that

it's one of those that you might want to be taking a look at as to whether or not that is an appropriate arrangement for handling prisoners like these? >> well, everybody that we contract with to hold federal prisoners is reviewed several times a year, in fact, so we always take a look at them, but we'll take a hard look at them following this, the information that we gather from our information. we'll certainly critique it and see if we need to make changes in how and where we house people. jon: we hope you get these three guys back in custody quickly, don slaznik, u.s. marshal in that area, thank you very much. >> i really appreciate your help. jane: researchers weren't expecting this result when they started a study an oolz himers, could the electrical magnetic waves in cell phones actually help alzheimer's. the doctor that did that study is here.

jon: a fox news alert, unfortunately more questions than answers surrounding this shooting at a power plant, power company, power component company, in north st. louis, illinois. harris faulkner has some of the latest information from the breaking news desk. >> one of the vantage points we have in the newsroom, with the satellite feed is we get to listen to the audio inside the chopper and as they coordinate with their photographer on the ground. they have just in the last few minutes put someone on a stretcher and inside an ambulance and from the point of view of one of our fox affiliate reporters, it looked like that person was still moving. here's what we're not clear about. is this another victim, is this possibly the suspect. here's the video. i'm talking about it, here it is, it's popping on the screen. thanks guys. in the center is the brand new video i was just talking about where they bring somebody out. i do want to put out they

still use the squad car as cover to get this person to the ambulance, and remember, we said here before, that can be an indication they're trying to protect that person from harm, from gunfire, from inside or some nearby, but they've put a person now on the stretcher. we don't know if that changes the number of people injured or killed in this. five people were shot, that's what we know, including one deceased so far. we don't know if that number changes or if that in fact is the suspect. we have no reason to believe they've called off the search for him. in fact, also to update you, just a couple of minutes before we started talking here, about 20-plus men with a whole lot of weapons walked into an open doorway in that building. i'll stay on this, this is the abb power transformers plant in north st. louis, 2-mile radius set up, and also, searching the campus for a suspect in a workplace shooting that took place now a few hours ago. jane and jon. jon: harris -- harris, when you're talking about the 20-plus membero 20-plus men,

you're talking about authorities. >> oh yes, heavily armed. jane: fresh medical news, there is a lot of speculation that radiation from cell phones may cause brain tumors, but get this a new study has found exposing mice to the same waves may actually protect against or even reverse the effects of alzheimer's disease. what exactly does that mean? the study's lead author is dr. jerry arendash at the alzheimer's research center. he's on the phone. doc, what happened in laymen's terms, if you will? >> what we did was expose alzheimer's mice that are genetically man ip lated to develop the disease to the same sorts of electromagnetic fields that you and i receive to our head when we use the cell phone and if we started that exposure early in their adult life, they were protected against the disease, and if we started it later in life, when they already had the memory

impairment, that memory impairment was actually reversed. jane: that's pretty remarkable. i read that you were as surprised as anybody. >> really, we started these studies with the idea that cell phone exposure would have negative effects in our alzheimer's mice and perhaps speed up the development of the disease. jane: so how do you translate this if at all to humans? obviously we would have a thicker skull, different bodies, et cetera. >> well, it's difficult personal, for reasons you just mentioned -- difficult presently for reasons you just mentioned but we feel these take a couple of month necessary the alzheimer's mice and we got enhancement in normal memory of mice with the cell phone exposure, but what we would like to do is to find a set of cell phone parameters, different frequencies and such, that would bring about these effects even sooner, and if we can confirm that they are safe to the mice,

that combination to me is the key to translating this into human trials. so hopefully, in the next three years, we'll have those answers. jane jan i don't want this to sound silly but at this point you wouldn't go so far as suggesting we strap a cell phone on our heads at all times. >> not at all. not at all. as a matter of fact, most of the radiation you get from a cell phone is to the side of the head that you hold the phone up to, so you have -- you'd have to have two on at the same time to make sure both sides of the head get the same exposure. [laughter] expwrain jane maybe a little silly. dr. aren dash, at the alzheimer's research disease -- disease research center, thank you for the fascinating stuff. jon: lots of news breaking and we have it for you. we are awaiting president obama to make some remarks. he is set to release the classified details of the botched terror attempt on

that airplane and we're hearing from one top official that americans will be shocked at what we hear. keep it right here on fox news channel for the president's comments when they take place, scheduled for about an hour from now. also we are keeping an eye on that very sad and scary situation in north st. louis, illinois, where a gunman walked into a manufacturing plant early this morning and opened fire. we are told that one person is dead, at least four others shot. the search goes on for the gunman. is he still inside that building? police don't seem to have the answers yet. we have it covered for you. are you receiving a payout from a legal settlement or annuity over 10 or even 20 years? call imperial structured settlements. the experts at imperial can convert your long-term payout into a lump sum of cash today.

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jane: hello, everybody, top of the hour happening now, a brutal winter storm is slamming a large part of the country, several deaths already. in chicago 500 flights have been grounded, major highways are closed as far as south as north carolina. jon: several big democratic retirements have republicans

hoping for major pickups in the 2010 elections. will they have the money, though, to put on a race? jane: didn't get what you wanted for christmas? a sneak peek at what could be the under the tree next year. those tab let'ses all -- tablets all being unveiled in las vegas. we begin this hour, though, with new details on that christmas day terror plot. we're expecting in a few hours to hear mr. the president. -- from the president. the feds are preparing to offer the clearest picture yet of the missteps leading up to this attempted attack on that northwest jet flying into detroit. homeland security is now revealing that the suspect, umar farouk abdulmutallab, had been flagged as someone who would need extra screening upon landing in the united states. they're saying his potential ties to extremists came up

during a routine check on passengers enroute to this country. mike, what have we heard about what to expect from this report when this declassified version is released today? >> well, we're expecting a very blunt assessment. jim jones called this, in effect, strike two after the strike two. here's more from the national security adviser. >> i think there's a certain shock to it in the sense that, you know, the man on the street will say, will be surprised that, you know, these correlations weren't made. because there was data out there. there was a number of things that could have triggered the prevention of this individual ever getting on an airplane. >> the white house is planning to release a declassified version of the report being given to the president today from his counterterrorism adviser john brennan.

and the national security adviser making the pointed to that he feels like a lot of average americans will be surprised when they read the details in that report, jane. jane: and, mike, talk to us about what we've learned from this investigation, about when it was figured out there may be an issue with this guy onboard that jet. >> you talked about it at the top, but people run the names on the list of that flight during the flight recognized there were some red flags associated with abdulmutallab's name. what officials are being cautious can to say is it was not enough, obviously, to keep the explosives off the plane, so it was still a significant problem at that point but they had planned when that flight arrived in detroit to stop him for some additional screening at that point. obviously, if the explosives had been successful, it would not have stopped a terrible tragedy that day, but they did pick up on the government database that they needed to stop and talk to that guy. unfortunately, after the flight had already taken off.

jane: mike, i do want to ask you one last thing. it's the new york daily news report today that the head of the national counterterrorism center which is really the clearinghouse for all this intelligence, that he was on a ski vacation when this story broke, when this incident happened and that he stayed on his ski vacation instead of heading back to headquarters. give us some context on that. >> no official reaction from the national counterterrorism center, but in situations like this, obviously, at christmas time a lot of official washington cleared out and a lot of top officials when they travel, obviously, travel with equipment for secure video conference purposes, so they can keep in quick touch with official washington when necessary, for example, the white house situation room. we should note that, obviously, the president of the united states was out of town, he was in hawaii on his vacation. homeland security secretary janet napolitano was on san francisco, and so there were other officials out of town, but obviously, since his job was to break down intelligence and to

the analyze intelligence, it did get some headlines in today's new york daily news. jane: mike emanuel's at the white house. thanks, mike. >> thank you. jon: take you back to that north st. louis, illinois -- i'm sorry, excuse me, north st. louis, missouri, shooting situation at a workplace. harris faulkner has updated information. >> jon, let's get right to the picture because i want everybody to see this. s.w.a.t. members have just come out and as you can see, en masse, they have just gone back into the building. we weren't sure a couple minutes ago, and we we were calling frantically to see if this was being brought to some sort of conclusion. but then they sort of restructured and then in a double file formation at least 25 s.w.a.t. members going back into that building and very, very kind of staccato fashion there. and we're working to learn more on this. let me just kind of reset the scene here.

we know that we have five people who were shot in this workplace shooting. this is the abb plant located, as you said, jon, in north st. louis, missouri. one of them confirmed dead, that's according to the fire department. now, at a news conference a short time ago they had said they set up a 2-mile radius to try to track down the suspect, 51-year-old timothy hendron of webster groves, missouri. we've seen ambulances as well as tactical s.w.a.t. team vehicles come in and out of this area, and then moments ago a regrouping, it would seem, of s.w.a.t. members as they go into a different location now. they had been going into a very large section of this complex, and then they went into a smaller building just moments ago. we are watching this, as everybody is, unfold live. in the meantime, timothy hendron, we do know, was a long-time employee, possibly as many as 20-plus years at this plant. we do know through our own

research and reporting that there was a lawsuit back in 2006, a class action lawsuit over benefits, pension benefits that this man reportedly was part of and that that lawsuit could possibly still be ongoing although i'm learning now that it looks like that lawsuit was wrapped up in 2006. but timothy hendron was one of the complaintants in that against the abb factory. they make electrical transformers. now we're watching another set of movements now with this tactical team, a little bit faster. i'm going to keep my eyes on the screen, we're going to keep our contacts here in the newsroom going to try to figure out whether or not they have gotten any closer to apprehending timothy hendron. he is a person reportedly who would know this complex very well. they have been searching for him for at least three hours now since the shooting that left one dead and four wounded. back to you guys. jon: thank you, harris, and as you've been speaking, one of the members of our "happening now" booking units says he's been on

the phone with authorities who say that two of the people injured in this shooting were taken to the hospital, they are in critical condition. two others arrived in fair condition. we will continue to keep everyone appraised as much as possible as to what the situation is regarding those survivors of this shooting. jane: and you can see what the weather is like in st. louis, it is not so great in much of the country. this winter storm has been blanketing much of the midwest. blizzard-like conditions, arctic temperatures. we have live pictures from the city of chicago as well. more than 500 flights canceled at the chicago area airports, 150 schools shut down. very rough going on the roads there. in denver the thermometer today will struggle to get above 10 degrees. janice is watching it all from the weather center. >> yeah. it's a good thing a lot of people are going to be indoors today across the upper midwest, jane, and blizzard conditions, as you mentioned, because we have winds gunfighting 20- gusting 20-4 miles per hour. there's chicago, up to a foot or

more of snow for this region so hope you're wearing the new boots and staying indoors. temperatures are going to hover around the 20s and then into the teens in the weekend. this cold air is going to sink as far south yet again to florida over the weekend, even colder temperatures. look across the northern plains, upper midwest. 27 in green bay, minus 15 in business mark. factor in the winds, you do not want to be outside for any length of time with these wind chills potentially deadly wind chills. and this is the story across much of the country as far south as memphis, even atlanta. another cold arctic plunk coming d plunge coming this weekend with temperatures in the teens as far south as florida. jane: sarah platte is with fox milwaukee, she is just south of milwaukee on the ground there. sarah, update us, if you will. >> well, good morning to you, jane. we've been in re seen county

just south of milwaukee since about 5:00 this morning, and we have seen a steady stream of snow all day. taking a look at the roads, you can see they are a little bit sloppy out there this morning. we're advising people to take it easy on the roads. we have seen a number of cars that appear to be going a little bit too fast for conditions, but the good news is we have seen a number of snowplow and salt trucks trying to keep up with it. again, it's hard being that the snow has been coming down all morning and, of course, we're expecting it to come down well into this evening. so, again, a lot of snow here in wisconsin, but i also checked in with the racine county sheriff's department, and they told me they haven't had major accidents, so it appears that wisconsin drivers, for the most part, know how to handle this winter weather that we are dealing with right now. back to you, jane. jane: sarah, thanks. jon: you miss your old stomping grounds, don't you? [laughter]

we are, as of now, less than 11 months from this year's big midterm elections, but we've already seen some pretty big developments. three prominent democrats, two senators and a governor announcing they will not seek reelection. now, republicans might think that bodes well for them in those races, but could a financial short fall prevent the gop from taking advantage? shannon breen is live with more of that from washington. good news and bad news, shannon? >> you're right, jon. let's start with the good news. the republican governors' association is coming off two huge wins, virginia and new jersey, so, of course, that's a huge help in the fund-raising department. last year was record breaking. $30 million raised. here's how haley barber explained those millions. >> a lot of governors worked hard and had more involvement than before, but the biggest thing are the policies of the obama administration and the democratic majorities in congress are so unpopular even

to the point of being scary that a lot of people realize it's time to build back the republican party and the best place to start is with governors. >> the round of governors elected this fall and those who are still in office are actually going to oversee redistricting that's going to last for the next ten years. right now the democrats outnumber republicans 26-24, but republicans are feeling good going into the fall. jon? jon: it's clearly been more of a challenge at the congressional level, why? >> it has. they didn't have the success at the house races like they did with the governorships. that contentious race that fell apart for the republicans, that's one factor impacting fund raising. but congressman tom davis, former congressman who once headed up the republican fund raising in the house says you now have to focus on the future. here's what he said.

>> what the republicans have to do is they've got to give their donors hope that they can take back the house. they've been short in that over the first year. if the tide rises, i think they need to go out and say, look, we have a chance to really take back the house. >> that would actually take 40 seats, so it's a big promise, but republicans say they're feeling optimistic. they're certainly being outraised by democrats on the house side, but they're feeling optimistic despite that, jon. jon: shannon, thank you. jane: we've got new details on the attack in afghanistan, the one that left those seven cia employees dead at an american base there. what we are learning about that plot whether it's possible that associates of osama bin laden played a role in this. plus, we're just getting this into our newsroom, hearing from the wife of this double agent who blew himself up there killing those americans, what she thinks of her husband's actions. [ male announcer ] a bad cold hits your whole body. alka-seltzer plus liquid gels

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>> i'm harris faulkner at the breaking news desk, we continue to follow that situation in north st. louis, missouri, where a workplace shooting happened earlier today, and they're still looking for the suspect in that. a 51-year-old employee at the abb transformer electrical plant in north st. louis, his name is timothy hendron. we've got reports coming in via our fox affiliate and the associated press, and this is

what we're getting here into the newsroom. the st. louis fire department reporting now, and this is a number that has grown and we have watched it grow here this morning, seven shot, three dead. we are working to confirm whether or not that includes the shooter. i do want to mention to you that there are local reports that it is possible that that may at least include that the shooter may have been apprehended. so we're working to confirm that again, now, the st. louis fire department saying seven shot, three dead. this is still a very active scene, i'll stay on it. now back to you guys. jane: new details now on the investigation into the attack that killed seven cia employees on that u.s. base in afghanistan. some in our intelligence community now believe it was planned with the help of osama bin laden's associates. michael showier joins us now. thanks for your time today. >> you're welcome. jane: your thoughts on whether bin laden himself or close

associates were actually involved in planning this attack. >> well, they claimed it last night. al-qaeda's commander in afghanistan claimed responsibility for it with the assistance of the taliban and their allies. it makes perfect sense, you know, the cia has been at war with osama bin laden since 1996. we have hit him repeatedly hard, and war is never a one-way street. and they eventually found a way to get back at us. it's the first time, it probably won't be the last time. jane: i want to put up on the screen a quote from the wife of this suicide bomber who was thought to be a double can agent. she says, i think it's impossible that he was an american agent. he was too adversary to work for america. he only could have used america and jordan to reach his goals. i am proud of my husband, he has carried out a very important operation in such a war. you called this this morning a very successful operation for al-qaeda. >> it's, you know, and i don't want to sound callous, and i don't want to offend anyone, but

from the perspective of an intelligence operation, this was an excellent operation run by al-qaeda. i hope it really alerts some american politicians in both parties to what a serious threat this organization is. it's not a nation-state, but the operation at host is very close to what a nation-state can do. jane: you say we're seriously underestimating the threat of al-qaeda that they propose at this point in time. what do you propose doing? >> well, i would propose at least trying to defend america. you know, the president is trying to fool the american people into thinking that if he can get this watch list business right, it's a silver bullet. well, the watch list is always going to be beatable, but more important than that, he's playing americans for fools. we have thousands and thousands of unguarded borders, water and

land, that no one since 1996 when al-qaeda has declared war has done one thing about to protect. so the idea that america is safe is a hoot. jane: you know, it is interesting, there's been so much focus since christmas day on airplanes, keeping us safe in the sky, the changes we expect to hear about deal with airplane security, but are we taking our eye off the other balls in the air when you talk about border security, etc. >> absolutely. one of the reasons they've concentrated on error is to keep us from focusing on -- air, is to keep us from focusing on something else. they're not stupid. they've just run a tremendously successful operation in afghanistan, and we, we behave as if we have all the time in the world to find a way to fix this problem. jane: michael, i want to ask you, too, in terms of who was kill inside this attack on this cia agents at that fort operating base in afghanistan, there were seven of them.

they were all in the same room which some people have raised questions about. just how many of them were our top agents, the people who knew best how to find osama bin laden or at least how to attempt to find him? >> well, you know, all i know is what is in the media, and it suggests that this operationive who blew himself up was a long-term investment, people were comfortable dealing with him, and he had delivered credible information. it was a very good the operation. in terms of -- jane: michael -- >> i'm sorry. jane: go ahead, finish up. just about ten seconds. >> okay. we lost two people that cannot be replaced, extraordinarily competent. jane: former head of for cia bin laden unit, thanks so much for your time. again, we wait for more word from the white house in the wake of the christmas day attempt. jon: let's turn our attention to adam houseley, he is at the

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jane: unfortunately, we're getting an update on the totals of the dead and injured from the workplace shooting in st. louis we've been follow thing for you all morning. we're told by st. louis police that in total eight people have been shot, three of them now confirmed dead. let's get to captain sam dawson with the st. louis police department on the phone now. what can can you tell us about the conditions of those hurt and is the gunman among the dead? >> there were, oh, eight people shot in total this morning. of those eight, three are deceased. the five that were transported to the hospital right now i know

two of them are in fair condition, two of them are in critical condition. you asked about the shooter, right now -- certain if one of the individuals, one of the deceased individuals is the shooter, so we're act actively clearing the building with our tactical assets going room by room to make sure there are no witnesses, victims or suspects still hiding in the building. it's a very large complex, it's an industrial manufacturer of power transformers, and it's a very slow and methodical process. jane: captain, your phone cut out at a critical point, you said you cannot confirm whether the shooter is among the dead at this point? do you have him in custody? >> we do not have him in custody, and key not yet confirm whether one of the deceased individuals is our suspect. so we're still using our s.w.a.t. teams searching room by room right now looking for the suspect to the make sure there aren't any additional suspects, witnesses or additional victims. jane: who is this guy? some reports he's a disgruntled

veteran employee of this company. >> we're being told and we're hearing the same information you are, we're being told by current employees that he's actually an active employee of the company. this business employs about 200 people. their shift started at 6:30 this morning in st. louis and right at 6:30 this morning this individual showed up at work with an assault rifle and a handgun. jane what was his grudge? >> that it's an active investigation, i don't know exactly what his state of mind was, i don't know what his motive was yet this morning. we're still, it's a very active, fluid scene right now. we're still searching for, like i said, additional victims and to make sure that there aren't still someone with a gun in the building. jane: the details we have been getting have been pretty frightening, that there were employees who ran to the roof o the building to hide, what else have you been hearing? >> that's exactly it. when the shooting started, these employees went to rooftops, they were seen by helicopters on the rooftops, there were some found in storage closets.

actually we received several calls from people on their cell phones that said, i'm hiding in this room, come get me. jane that's terrifying. those who were dead, were they found in the parking lot? inside the building? >> it looks like the incident started on the parking lot and then moved inside the business. jane: captain the sam dobson, this is still an act i have scene. what you're seeing is some videotape of a s.w.a.t. team entering the building through those red doors. the update from the captain is now eight shot in total. he has confirmed that three of them are dead. it is not known, though, yet if they do have the shooter amongst the dead or injured. captain, thank you. >> absolutely. thank you. jon: more evidence linking al-qaeda to that failed terror attack on christmas day on that northwest airlines jet. we'll get you a live report from yemen. [ male announcer ] let's talk about putting our best square foot forward. then let's do more than talk about it. let's turn picturing it into planning it,

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jane: we want to take you now to

yemen, the country we've heard so much about since christmas day. a top government official is revealing new details on the failed attack on that jet bound for detroit on christmas. he says the nigerian charged in this plot met with an american-born radical cher irk and the suspect was recruited and radicalized by al-qaeda while he was in london. let's get to tim, what do we know about the suspect's time there in yemen? >> well, in yemen it was guaranteed to us by the deputy prime minister he did meet anwral awlaki. he's american-born actually, born down in new mexico. and the imam who allegeedly these sermons were followed by the shooter in the fort hood shooting. he's been here for some time, and he's a pretty radical guy and we've had a confirm the,

yes, they did meet which is why people i've been speaking to doubted he was recruited in london. he was radicalized, but they think he was recruited over here, especially by this guy, anwar al-awlaki, and they also think he was trained here. so the yemenis are in a difficult position. they're trying to say, hey, guys, don't blame us too much, but at the same time the finger they're pointing at this place is in deep trouble and it's becoming al-qaeda central. jane: what are they doing to fight the increasing population in the country? >> the americans are putting money into night vision lenses, helicopters, and the americans have got some people in to train the yemeni special forces. so that's what america's trying to do, but we need a lot more. i can briefly explain why they've got a rebellion in the north, they've got a movement in the south to split the country in two and then throw into that

mix abject poverty and, now, increasing al-qaeda activity, and you can see what a mess they're in, and they need help. >> tim marshall is the foreign editor for sky news, he is in the capital there. tim, thanks. jon: one of the most important federal agencies overseeing airport security remains leaderless right now. president obama's nominee to head the transportation security administration is being held up. several republican senators expressing, quote, serious reservations about errol southers. is political big -- bickering affecting our safety? joining us, jared us in balm, co-author of intelligence matters, and andrea tanner the rose, she is a republican campaign consultant and fox the news.com contributor. welcome to both of you. >> good to be here. jon: jeff, southers' nomination

was being held up primarily by jim demeant, the republican senator who says he doesn't like the fact he believes southers wants to allow tsa members to unionize. he says that could slow down the process if they had to make big changes in the way they screen people going on airplanes. your thoughts? >> yeah. count me among those crying foul. let's take a step back. this is a man, president obama nominated a man who's really very well qualified. he has 30 years of experience, been on s.w.a.t. teams with the fbi and with the los angeles international airport's authority doing security. so he's very well qualified. you're exactly right that the concern being raised by senator demint is really a political concern. and let's take that issue head on. the department of homeland security, the secretary of homeland security has said that it's not going to be his decision on unionization, that it's going to be a secretary decision. so holding him up over this is really missing the point, and i think, keeping a very qualified

person from doing a very important job. jon: well, andrea, there were first concerns about whether or not he would allow the tsa to unionize, but there are other concerns as well. >> yeah, absolutely. and we know what happens when we don't appropriately screen the baggage of the obama administration. we get tim geithner, bill richardson, tom daschle, so i think this is another instance of someone who is ethically challenge. "the washington post" is reporting that southers at his time at the fbi, though he may be qualified, used a federal classified database, he hacked into it to get some details about his estranged wife's boyfriend. then he further went on to lie about it to the u.s. senate. now, when you look at the obama administration, they promised us extraordinary change, the most ethical government we've ever seen. this is not the case here, and for democrats to cry foul, jon, to insist that this guy's appointment is somehow not making us safe or one bureaucrat's appointment could have stopped that bomber is just

ludicrous. if this guy's appointment was so important to the democrats, then why wouldn't they have made this a priority? jon: all right, i wish we had more time, but with the crush of news today, we're going to have to leave it there. >> thanks, jon. jane: we want to check back in with janice dean who is watching a significant storm in much of the midwest. we do have live pictures that have been coming in throughout the morning. i think we have chicago, but we certainly have janice dean. look at that big blue spot. [laughter] >> there we go, there's chicago, jane's hometown. they are expecting anywhere from 6-8 inches of snow, maybe up to the a foot in the buschs, so that is going to be the story in the next 12 hours. let's take a look at the satellite radar composite, and even as far south as birmingham, alabama, so there's the snow for green bay and chicago moving down towards louisville,

kentucky, and nashville. cold enough for snow across portions of the tennessee river valley and then birmingham, you're just on the border here, 36 degrees, where you're seeing some snow in towards atlanta. you could see a wintry mix as well and then just a chilly rain as we go back across the gulf coast can region. there are your temperatures, extremely cold air moving in from canada into the midwest, those winds making it feel cooler than the actual air temperature. minus 13 is what it feels like in minneapolis, minus 12 in rapid city. all of that cold air is going to sink as far south as florida again this weekend. look at these temperatures, guys, 22 on saturday, 15 on sunday. monday, 18 degrees, these are overnight lows parts of north florida. back to you, jake and jon. jane: janice, thanks very much. jon: if you want to check out the latest in high-tech gadgets before anyone else, you've got to be in vegas, baby. the largest event of its kind in the world, that's where we find our adam houseley, very cool

assignment, adam. >> hey, you know, jon, a fantastic assignment. i know jane is jealous, so we're going to show you something in a moment. first of all, some cool stuff here. 22,000 new products, more than 2500 companies. there's all here on fox, we'll give you the updates on it. swiss army has you pull this out right now, there's a knife, an opener. you still have a swiss army knife but to keep up with the times, 16-gig flash drive as well, also has an actual presentation level so if the you're doing a presentation in front of a board meeting, one of the new cool technologies. this is the kodak pulse. you know, mom, dad back home maybe they're not on facebook or follow the pictures, tough to get the pictures to them, e-mail them, this'll go to your facebook account. you can e-mail pictures directly

to this and it'll show up on their countertop and play the pictures. you can get this from kodak. flow tv, this thing folds up and you can watch television. it's about a 5-second delay from where we are right now. some of the cool, more practical things you might lose, and then you have the cool, quirky stuff. ian, you've got to tell me your company's name. >> it's interactive toy concepts. >> watch this, sean, listen to this. i cock it, right? shoot it once, shoot it twice -- [laughter] down it goes. oh, hit the caddie. you can have dual guns on it. can you imagine, jon and jane, you have your own little party there in this living room trying to shoot the ducks? jane: and they're not real ducks, before anybody gets mad -- jon: available at wal-mart? >> where is it? >> walmart, target and toys r us. >> what'd you say, jane?

jane: i was just saying for anybody who's going to get upset you're shooting animals, they're not real. >> hey, i'm from northern california, these are all fake, and that's aer in of-type duck, so it didn't break anything. jon: sadly, jane pasted my picture on the duck she was shooting at. [laughter] jane: and i got it, right on target. that looks like a blast. jon: looks like fun, adam. thanks. >> on fox news.com you can see all these things. jane: foxnews.com. adam is in heaven today. thanks, adam. >> all right, guys. jane: some fast food restaurants are rolling out some new ads in the new year. this might have caught their attention the. take a look. >> everything's got to be clean, crisp and tasty. ♪ >> and while the best things in life are messy -- jane: that ad is for -- does it really matter? well, it happens to be for carl's jr., the food change.

more on what other companies are doing to encourage some healthy eating on their menu next.

harris: i'm harris faulkner at the breaking news desk continuing to watch that story out of north st. louis, missouri, that has left eight shot. three of them dead, three in critical condition, two in fair condition in hospitals in the area. we're just learning via ktvi,

and we are working here to confirm, but via our fox affiliate is that the gunman is among the dead. and this according to our fox affiliate and also the "st. louis post-dispatch", police believe the gunman to be among the dead in all of the carnage that has gone on at this plant. abb electronics transformers power plant in north st. louis. if that is the case, the suspect's name is timothy hendron, 51 years old. thought to be an employee, a long-time employee of this company. someone, and if it was him, stormed with an assault rifle this morning the front part of this plant killing two workers and injuring at least five others. police saying now via our fox affiliate and also the "st. louis post-dispatch" that the gunman is among the dead. they're waiting for relatives, apparently, to come and identify the body. we'll stay on this story and keep you updated on this. right now, though, you should know this is still an active

scene, they still have ambulances, emergency workers, tactical teams there at the abb power plant in north st. louis. there are also squad cars outside the home of timothy hendron in nearby webster groves, a short 20-minute drive away. again, via our fox affiliate and st. "st. louis post-dispatch" the gunman believed to be among the dead. jane: harris, thanks very much. new year resolution? be nicer to me? jon: i will try to keep that one. jane: if dieting is among them, a lot of restaurants have launched ad campaigns to know dieters know they have diet-friendly products. it's not just the burgers and fries -- jenna: apparently not after that kim kardashian ad. eating salad in a bathtub, it could happen. jon: doesn't everybody? jenna: six out of ten of us want to lose weight in the new year, and that's a big business opportunity to captain can rise

on, especially since food and bar sales have held up so well in this recession. i want to show you what that looks like. in the battle of food versus retail sales or food versus shoes, you can see the food sales way outpaced the retail sales, and restaurants and bars are really being able to capitalize on this because half of what we spend on food we spend outside the home. so what exactly are these fast food chains doing to grab those dollars? i want to show you a couple of them. starbucks, for example, offering sandwiches under 400 calories, dunkin doughnuts offering breakfast sandwiches with egg whites and then also taco bell's 200-calorie options as part of its drive through diet. you're going to hear a lot more about that. now, a few years ago the restaurant industry was fighting posting calories on its menus saying it's going to be too costly, but a recent study shows

starbucks didn't lose any money, but those who actually consumed the calories did drop the calories they ate but not what they spent. those are very early studies, and they're limited. starbucks is not commenting on that as well. but apparently, knowing what you're eating is okay for business so far. and the audience, to say the least, is growing. have you seen the new spokesman, man being the important word there for jenny craig? i want to show you him. his name, jason alexander or better known as george costanza. he could be the next valerie bertinelli. you never know. i have no confirmation yet if he will do the bikini shot -- jane: on the cover of people magazine, right? jenna: there you go. jane: jon just wanted to see kim kardashian again. jon: not a fan. jane: really? jon: when you know jenna lee -- jenna: i'll show you the shot of me eating a salad in the

bathtub. [laughter] jane: that would do something, i can tell you that, lee. we'll look for that. keep it here on the fox news channel. jon: that'll be our alert tomorrowment right now we are awaiting the obama administration's review of that failed christmas day terror plot, but we have already been warned by the white house national security adviser that americans will feel, quote, a certain shock when they hear the account. what does that mean? we'll talk with someone who knows. @=@=@? so i was the guy who was never going to have the heart attack. i watched what i ate. i worked out.

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jon: about two hours from now we expect to hear from president obama detailing the review of the attempted terror attack on that northwest airlines jet on christmas day. we already know that the intelligence community missed a number of signs that could have prevented umar farouk abdulmutallab from ever boarding that plane. just today we learned he'd even been flagged as someone who

needed extra screening upon land anything detroit. let's talk about it now with gordon, the form ther national security council spokesman. i can't think of a time when i've heard a statement from someone like the president's national security adviser, general james jones, saying americans are going to feel a certain shock when they hear what the president says today. it seems like he's trying to lay the groundwork for something. what's that all about? >> well, i think he's trying to make it clear that we are going to be shocked and, frankly, disappointed that this terror suspect wasn't at least searched more before he got on that airplane. clearly, i think they're probably laying the groundwork that procedures are going to have to be changed. we already provide advanced passenger information to check against some watch lists, and now more watch lists, the larger database, is going to have to be checked before people get on an airplane if we're going to keep our skies safe. jon: but it's such an incredible

coming full circle of the obama administration starting from that first remark from homeland security head janet napolitano saying the system worked, and now we have the national security adviser saying americans are going to be shocked at what happened here. >> right. they are off to a shaky start from the get go with this incident. i mean, these issues are complicated, but i don't know why president obama said this was an isolated event when he finally came out and spoke three days, three days after it happened. clearly, this wasn't isolated, this was a plan by al-qaeda in the arabian peninsula, and then you had napolitano's statements which they had to walk back. each day they make a different announcement about different information and different procedures. i don't know who's advising him to say what and when, but it would be nice to see the investigation be complete and then see a full range of new security measures put in place. jon: so you think this dribbling out of information is not a good thing? >> yeah, i think it sends the wrong signal.

i think they need to complete their investigation, get all of the facts. i mean, we're just now learning, you know, a couple weeks after the incident that he was going to be subject to additional questioning when he arrived. you know, that's something we should have learned sooner. and that's something that should be, you know, plugged into the equation of what new security measures need to be put in place. jon: you know, al-qaeda learns from all of its mistakes. we now know that one of the things they look for is somebody who's paying cash for a ticket and not checking luggage. should all of this be out there? because i can guarantee you the next time al-qaeda sends a bomber, they're going to buy a round trip. [laughter] >> right. you know n a free society a lot of our countermeasures are going to be made public. it's what happens. people in the press want to know, you know, american citizens want to know if they do something, why they get singled out. so this information's going to be out there. that's why we have to stay one step ahead of the terrorists and

have the best intelligence possible and to connect all the dots. and unfortunately in this case, you know, the terrorists paid cash, didn't check any luggage, but no one checked him out. so even measures that they already knew about weren't even looked into. jon: former national security council spokesman, gordon, thanks. jane: well, the technology upgrade at an airport famous for some of the best security in the world. >> your passport, your face and a fingerprint, that's all it takes to board the next elal flight for some passengers here. i'll explain after the break. j

gur-on airport installed a new system to allow passengers to basically perform security checks on themselves, and no longer asking a person, no longer a person asking passengers questions, but it's a computer, rita ninan is here to show us and explain what is different about the system. >> reporter: it is really the smart -- called a unipass and they scan your face and taker fingerprints and when you come you scan the card and show your passport to get through and down the road they hope airports will use it and say at d if j.f.k. took on the system the airport security officials can put in special notes and would show up

when you scanned your card from airport-to-airport. jane: how does it work? >> reporter: you have this card and in the system and put down the card and take your passport and scan it, most of them have a bar code there and it centers it in and then it scans your face, and will ask you a series of security questions that a human being would have asked normally and if they are not happy with the answers to the questions and screening your entire system, they'll ask for your fingerprints, and put it down and it is a way to authorize whether its in fact you or not and 540 people in two days, jane already signed up for the system, only for el al frequent flyer members and now continental will pick it up in a couple of months. jane: thanks. jon: technology to solve that kind of a problem. jane: we'll see. that will do it for us. jon: live desk is up next. bye-bye.